I love it when my fridge contains a bunch of stuff from previous meals I’ve made over the past few days. It challenges me to create new dishes that are yummy and hopefully healthy. Among the random fridge items I had today was a courgette, half a brick of halloumi, some onions and a yellow pepper. Combined with some helpful pantry items and my fresh mint plant, I conjured up a winner!

This salad would taste great on it’s own but it wouldn’t be the same without the star attraction: Halloumi. I’ve got a few recipes on here with halloumi. I just love it. It’s a hard turkish cheese that is quite salty. Kind of like a paneer consistency. It doesn’t melt easily so it’s brilliant for frying or grilling. In the UK you can get it almost anywhere. In Canada you have to look a bit harder, but it’s usually near the hard cheese like feta.

What you’ll need:

One can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Half an onion, chopped

One courgette (zucchini) chopped

A pepper (red or yellow) chopped

About 2 tablespoons of fresh mint finely chopped

Crushed chilli flakes

The juice from one lemon

Olive oil (for cooking and some good quality stuff for dressing)

A bit of honey

Plenty of salt and pepper

Toasted sesame halloumi (or cold crumbled feta)

What to do:

In a frying pan, fry the onions, courgette and pepper in some olive oil on high heat until dark and crispy on some sides. Season with salt and pepper Right before you finish frying, add the chickpeas so that they get warm and a bit softer. Turn off the heat but leave the pan on the burner so the chickpeas continue to warm. In another frying pan, fry the sesame halloumi. Click here for instructions.

When the halloumi is done, remove everything from the pans into a bowl and toss well. Drizzle on some olive oil and honey, a squeeze of lemon juice, the mint and crushed chillies. Toss again. Now you’re ready to serve.

I served the salad alongside some grilled chicken skewers. The chicken was marinated in a bath of: olive oil, lemon juice, tomato puree, ground cumin, a tiny bit of ground cinnamon, salt and pepper.